Iowa Farm Facts
In 2009, Iowa led the nation in the production of corn, soybeans, pork and eggs.
Iowa has 92,600 farms. Land in farms covers 30.8 million acres.
Iowa raised more than 2.4 billion bushels of corn in 2009, or 18 percent of the total U.S. corn crop of 13.2 billion bushels.
Iowa raised more than 486 million bushels of soybeans in 2009, or 14 percent of the nation’s 3.36 billion bushels in 2009.
Iowa has 6 hogs for every person in the state. There are more than 19 million hogs being raised in Iowa. Iowa producers marketed more than 37 million hogs in 2008.
A hen lays an average of 269 eggs per year. In 2009, Iowa’s egg producers had 53.8 million layers producing 14.47 billion eggs.
Iowa is ranked second in the nation in red meat production. Iowa ranked fourth in the United States for cattle on feed. As of January 2010, Iowa had 1.36 million cattle on feed.
There was an average of 215,000 milk cows on Iowa farms during 2009. A cow will produce an average of 6.3 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,300 gallons each year.
Iowa ranked 10th in the United States for the number of sheep and lambs on farms. As of January 2010, Iowa had 210,000 sheep and lambs.
Iowa ranked third in the nation for milk goats. As of January 2010, Iowa had 29,500 milk goats.
Iowa ranked seventh in the United States for turkeys marketed with 11.5 million turkeys in 2009.
Iowa’s 39 ethanol plants produce a total of 3.27 billion gallons of ethanol annually, more per year than any other state. Thirty nine percent of Iowa’s corn is used to produce ethanol.
Iowa’s total cash receipts for farm commodities in 2008 totaled more than $24.7 billion – the second highest in the United States.
Iowa’s total agricultural exports for fiscal year 2008 were valued at more than $7.8 billion, ranking Iowa second in the nation in agricultural exports.
Information sources: National Agricultural Statistics Service, Economic Research Service, Dairy Farming Today and the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Compiled by Malinda Geisler, Growing Family Fun at Geisler Farms, Bondurant, Iowa. www.growingfamilyfun.com